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Jaeoma Aeadi^my of Seie9(;e, 



TACOMA, WASHINGTON. 




HON. JAMES WICKERSHAM. 

Is it Mount Tacoma, or Rainier ? 



SECOisTHD EXJimonsr. 



TACOMA : 

News Publishing Company. 

1893. 




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PROCEEDINGS 



Taeoma Aead(^my of §eie9c;e, 



TACOMA, WASHINGTON. 




PAPER BV 



HON. JAMES WICK?:R.SHAM. 

Is it Mount Taeoma, or Rainier? 



SECOlSriD lEXDITIOiT. 



TAOOMA : 

News Publishing Company. 
1893. 



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OFFICERS 

OF THE 

TACOMA ACADEMY OF SCIEMCE. 



President Hon. Frank Allyn 

f Aethur E. Burns 

I Genl . August V. Kautz 

Vice-Presidents <( Prof. R. 8. Bingham 

j Edward Eric Rosling 

I, Mrs. a. H. W. Raynor 

Secretary Meriden S. Hill 

secretaries of departments: 

Science Wm. Curtis Taylor 

Aljnne Club Fred G. Plummer 

History James Wickersham 

Law Chas. p. Culver 

Literature Mrs. C. W. Griggs 

Treasurer Geo. W. Thompson 



Extractfrom the ffiinntes of a stated nucling held on Da ember ig, i8gj. 

The Academy having convt'iied with the President in the chair, a 
quorum being present, and the minutes of the last meeting having been 
read and adopted, ***** a resolution was introduced 
by the Secretary, as follows : 

Resolved, that the Hon. James Wickersham be requested to prepare 
a paper from the large amount of information he has collected on the 
sul)ject of the origin of the name "Tacoma," with particular reference to 
its application ])y the aborigines to Mount Tacoma. 

On motion the above resolution was unanimously adopted. 



PROCEEDINGS 



Tacoma Academy of Science, 

February 6th, 1893. 



The Academy convened in regular session, the President in the chair. 
A quorum being present, the minutes of the last meeting were read and 
approved. 

The following prominent Indians representing the Puyallup, Nesqually 
and Klickitat tribes were seated on the platform : George Leschi, son of 
Quiemuth, a leader in the Indian war of 1855;- Jack Simmons; John 
Hiaton, one of the patriarchs of the reservation, 80 years of age, and a 
signer of the treaty of 1854 ; Mrs. John Hiaton and John Powers. 

On motion the rules were suspended and the Academy proceeded at 
once to the consideration of the paper of the evening entitled "Is it Mount 
Tacoma or Rainier — what do History and Tradition say?" 

Judge Wickersham being presented by the President, addressed the 
Academy as follows : 



Ladies and Gentlemen op the Academy : 

The recent action of President Harrison in reserving from disposal 
under the public land laws a tract of more than 700,000 acres surrounding 
Tacoma, the royal mountain peak, is of great interest to the people of 
Pierce county and the city of Tacoma. It is expected, of course, that this 
city will be the point to which all tourists will hereafter come on their 
way to examine the stupendous glaciers of this most lordly of American 
mountains, and it is consequently, of great interest to our people to see to 
it that everything concerning this park be well done — honestly, fairly and 
patriotically. It is the most famous mountain peak in our country ; cele- 
brated the globe over for its simple grandeur, and it behooves our people 
to protect it, and the park around it, jealously and with sleepless vigilance. 

Little can be done now, but that little is of vast importance. A proper 
and fitting name for this great cone, and the park around it, must be offi- 
cially announced. When this official announcement is once made it will 
be hard to change it. It will be used in song and story ; in tradition and 

5 



histoi*y; poets, authors, tourists, newspapers and scientific bodies of the 
world will adopt it, and it will never change. 

What name shall be forever perpetuated by being thus otticially 
attached to this mountain peak? Shall it be called "Mount Rainier" or 
"Tacoma?" What do honesty, euphony, simplicity, poetry, tradition, 
history and patriotism require of us? Let us view the facts, try the cause, 
hear the evidence, and then decide. 

In the preparation of this article no attention has been paid to literary 
effect ; the only effort has been to obtain facts by the best method possible 
in such a case as this — by letters from prominent people who understand 
the facts, know our history, and talk the language of the Indians ; by cer- 
tificates signed by old Indians, who, of course, know tlie truth, and by an 
appeal to records, papers, books, and all honest sources of information. 
The writer has, during the last year, written the Puyallup-Nesqually Indian 
language, and has also preserved many of their myths, traditions and 
stories concerning this (to them) mysterious mountain. A special effort 
has been made to get a correct Indian nomenclature of this region, and to 
no name has so much attention been paid as to the Indian name of this 
high mountain, from the glaciers of which spring the waters of the White, 
Carbon, Puyallup, Xesqually and Oowditz rivers, 

SPANISH mSCOVKRIES. 

INIore than a century ago, in 1774, the Spaniards saw the Olympic 
mountains and named Olympus, Sierra de Santa Rosalia. In 1790 they 
explored the hitherto fabulous straits of Anian, and entered a land-locked 
bay which tliey named Port Quadra. From Port Quadra they explored 
the waters of the great roadstead to the southeast, which they named Canal 
de Caamano. Rosario Straits, Oaliano Island, Fidalgo Island, Caamano 
Island, and many other names are preserved by reason of these first ex- 
plorers furnishing Vancouver with their maps and charts in 1792, when he 
visited the same waters. The Spaniards explored the exact spot in 1790, 
from which Vancouver named "Mount Rainier" in 1792. They lived for 
weeks in daily sight of Mount Baker, a name bestowed by Vancouver, be- 
cause a member of his crew by that name was the first one of his expedition 
to see it. Did the Spaniards name "Mount Tacoma," and if so, what 
name did they give it? Tliey saw it two years before Vancouver did, and 
his was not a discovery, but at best only a naming. 



ENGLISH DISCOVERIES. 

In May, 1792, Vancouver entered the Straits of de Fuca and cast anchor 
in Discovery Bay, the Port Quadra of the Spaniards. Leaving his vessel 
here to repair, he explored what we now call Admiralty Inlet and Puget 
Sound in small boats. As the little fleet rounded the long sand point and 
coasted down into Port Townseud Bay, Vancouver records that a "very 
remarkably liigh, round mountain, covered with snow, apparently at the 
southern extremity of the distant range of snowy mountains before notiix'd, 
bore S. 45 E." Later on, while in the Canal de Caamano, of the Spaniartls, 
in speaking of the range of mountains now known as the Cascades, he 

6 



says : "At its nortliern extremity Mount Baker bore by compass N 22 E. ; 
the round, snowy mountain now forming its southern extremity, and 
whicla, after my friend, Rear Admiral Rainier, I distinguished bytliename 
of 'Mount Rainier," bore N. 42 E.". 

And tlius, at a distance of over one hundred miles, Vancouver named 
this grand white-capped summit after a foreigner who represents nothing 
to our American civilization, and who not only never saw the mountain 
bearing his name, but who never saw the continent upon which it is so 
conspicuous a land mark. Vancouver held no communication with the 
Indians, and seemed to have had the greatest contempt for them, and 
made no effort to ascertain the names, if any they had, for the rivers, 
mountains, bays, and other natural features of this virgin world. 

At every turn he fastened the name of an obscure friend (whose only 
claim to this high honor was an acquaintance with Vancouver) to some 
prominent feature in the Puget Sound landscape. Out of this medley the 
name of Rainier was thus bestowed by him on the most perfect cone in 
that long line of extinct volcanoes, standing cold and lifeless, in the great 
continental range. Vancouver explored and named Puget Sound, after 
his lieutenant, Peter Puget, and then sailed away to Nootka, never again 
to see the points upon which he so recklessly flung the names of his un- 
known friends ; and this is the history of the name of "Mount Rainier." 

THE AMERICAN NAME. 

Is "Tacoma" the American name for this mountain, and what does 
the word mean? Should "Tacoma" be perpetuated and "Rainier" aban- 
doned? Is the one as honestly entitled to recognition as the other? Let 
the following eminent authorities answer the question. 



Vancouver, Wash., April 3, 1892. 

''^ Hon. James Wickersham, Tacoma, Wash. 

"Dear Sir: Some time ago I received a note from you asking me to 
say where the word 'Tacoma' came from. The word belongs to the 
Scadgit Indian language, and means plenty of food or nourishment ; and 
hence, a woman who had plenty of nourishment in her breasts was called 
'Tacoma sladah,' or the 'motherly woman,' and in the course of time the 
nourishing breast of a woman was called 'Tacoma,' because it furnished 
plenty of food for the young, and the snow-capped mountains were called 
'Haik-Tacomas,' because they resembled a woman's breasts, and w^ere 
supposed to furnish plenty of nourishment to the lesser mountains. 
'Haik-Tacomas,' the great mother of mountains. 

"Tacoma, the Indian town, was so-called from the fact that plenty of 
natural food was easily obtained at that place, the mother of towns. 

"The first author that I remember using the word was Theodore Win- 
throp; he called the snow peaks 'Tacomas.' 

I am most respectfully yours, 

"B. F. Shaw." 

Colonel Shaw was the interpreter at the Nesqually treaty of 1854, and 
commanded the Washington Volunteers in the war that followed. He is 



one of the most competent Indian scholars in the Northwest, and his 
statement is entitled to great weight. He is now a member of tlie state 
senate of Wasliington. 

"Port Townsend, ^ 

"Jefferson County, I 

"State of Washington. | 

"February 3, 1892. J 

^^ Hon. James Wickersham, Tacoma, Wash. 

"Dear Sir; Your letter of the 1st inquiring about the origin and 
meaning of the word 'Tacoma' was received this morning. It seems to be 
imiwssible for the average white man eitlier to pronounce or write an 
Indian word correctly. 'Tacoma' is the white man's rendering of the 
Nesqually and Puyallup word 'Ta-ho-ma' or Tah-o-mah,' with a strong ac- 
cent on the first syllable. The word means snow mountain or white moun- 
tain. The Clallam name for ^Mount Bilker is 'P'kowitz' 'Puhk,' white, 
'Kowitz' mountain. The Indian is thoroughly practical in his every day 
talk. He calls things by their right names without any attempt at poetic 
imagery. White poets make up their fancy names and descriptions. There 
are Indian orators who use ornate and poetic language like white orators 
and poets, but the rank and file of the Indian men and women express 
themselves in very i^lain, common talk. 

"In the Californian Illustrated Magazine No. 2, Vol. 1, January, 1892, is 
an interesting article by Charles Lummis, entitled, 'The City of the Sky; 
Acoma.' The foot note says this is pronounced 'Ah-co-ma,' accent on the 
first syllable. This is a strange stone island 7000 feet above the level of 
the sea. Upon the bare table top of this strange island, in the desert, 
stands a town of matchless interest, the home of half a thousand quaint 
lives and of half a thousand years romance. This 'City of the Sky' is in 
the western half of New ]\Iexico, thirteen miles south of the Atlantic & Pa- 
cific Railroad. My attention was called to it from the similarity of names 
— 'Ah-co-mah,' the 'City of the Sky,' and 'Tah-co-mah,' the 'snow-cov. 
ered mountain.' 

"Both words, though of different languages, indicate something high 
up. I do not know that there is any affinity in the languages — the Nes- 
qually, or Puyallup, and the Zuni, but there is an interesting coincidence. 

"The late Dr. Wm. Eraser Tolmie, who was stationed at Nesqually as 
trader for the Hudson Bay Company, in early times, gave great attention 
to the study of Indian languages, and is considered an authority. He 
always told me that the word 'Ta-ho-mah' means a white, snow-covered 
mountain. 

"The Indian word 'Quil-ley-hute' is by the white man spelled and 
pronounced 'quilleute,' and so of almost every Indian word, and especially 
the names of places. When a person can neither pronounce nor spell one 
Indian word correctly, their florid descriptions of the meaning should be 

taken cum grano salts. 

"Very cordially yours, 

"James G. Swan." 
Judge Swan has a reputation second to none on our coast as an eth- 
nologist — his life-long study of our Indians, his labors for the Smithsonian 



Institution and his many interesting articles on the Indians of this coast 
liave given him great weiglit as an authority. 

No name shines brighter on the scroll of American philologists and 
ethnologists than that of George Gibbs. His greatest work, probably, was 
his "Niskwalli Dictionary," being a thorough examination of the language 
of that people. He lived in our midst for years, and occupied a prominent 
position in the early history of the Territory of Washington. His home 
was in sight of the great mountain, and in his Dictionary, written in 1853, 
he gives its name as "Takob." 

The Tacoma Morning Globe, of Sunday, August 3, 1890, contains a very 
interesting article by John Flett, recently deceased, about the name of the 
mountain. No one is more competent than Mr. Flett, who came to Puget 
Sound in 1841 , and the following is his language : 

"It was no novelty to me to hear the conference between a number of 
Indians and Hon. El wood Evans, which occurred in June, 1882, at his 
law office in New Tacoma, on Pacific Avenue, in the second story of S. M. 
Nolan's store. That gentleman requested me (I was then employed at 
the Puyallup Indian reservation) to invite several old reliable Indians to 
visit him and give him information as to the name among the Indians of 
the mountain called by the whites 'Mount Rainier.' Before that time, 
and in fact at the time I first came to the Puget Sound country (1841), I 
had heard the Indians from the east side of the mountains (the Klicki- 
tats) call it 'Ta-ho-ma.' I interpreted for Mr. Evans. He put his ques- 
tions in English or Chinook jargon. The questions, or his words, were 
put in native Indian to the old men. The old Indians, in reply to me, 
said that the name Tahoma applied by them to that mountain, meant a 
woman's breast or 'pap,' that feeds 'tootoosh' or milk; that the 'earth 
was their mother, for she had fed them, and Tahoma given them drink, 
and overfiowed and made the grass grow rich from the white water that 
flowed from her.' I at the time, translated their guttural expressions, 
which resulted in aggregating the word 'Tahoma,' though really no two 
Indians pronounced the word exactly alike." 

The following is the result of that interview, as given by Judge Evans 
in his Fourth of July address at Puyallup that year : 

"This grand lesson stamped its impress upon the native mind — in- 
spired the Indians' imaginations. It originated for this Colossus among 
mountains the poetic name of Tak-homa, with a meaning full of poetic sig- 
nificance. Literally translated, *a woman's breast that feeds.' How aptly 
is expressed that conical pile of eternal snow, which by the genial lieat 
from heaven's own luminary sends down the waters which feed and enrich 
so vast a region ! How true that thought, how happy that idea, for out of 
those secret urns in the deep recesses of old Rainier proceed those numer- 
ous rivers which fertilize the rich valleys of the Puget Sound basin and the 
valleys of the Yakima !" 

Olympia, Washington, Feb. 8, 1892. 
'•'■ Hon, James Wickersham, Tacoma, Wash, 
Dear Sir : Your esteemed favor is at hand asking for information in 

9 



regard to the origin of the word Tacoma. 1 do not think 1 can enlighten 
you on the subject. I was at one time superintendent of Indian affairs 
for the Territory of Washington, and made some effort to get the mean- 
ing and origin of Indian words. I think the i^resent word 'Tacoma' is a 
corruption of the Indian word 'Tacopa,' or 'Ta-co-pe,' which in Indian 
means wldte — 'Ta-co-pa Illi-he,' or white land. The name, I think, was 
pretty generally given the mountain by the Indians, particularly by the 
Nesquallies, Puyallups, Muckleshoots and Squaksons. 

"Very truly, 
"J. T. McKexney." 

Some time ago Every Siinday contained a short article on "Tacoma," 
from which the following is extracted : 

"C. P. Ferry (the duke of Tacoma) has not only been a resident of 
Commencement Bay as long as any other resident, but as an apt scholar 
he is doubtless more familiar than any one else with mountain nomencla- 
ture and fiction legends. On returning from Europe, he was interviewed 
by a Globe reporter, and said, among other things, that about the first 
thing he heard when he landed was that Seattle was still kicking about the 
name of Mount Tacoma, and that made him tired. '"Why,' said he, 'I 
thought that controversy was dead long ago. It is preposterous, the idea 
of calling that mountain by any other name than Tacoma. The idea that 
we named the mountain after the city is preposterous. Where do they 
think we got the name for the city? We didn't invent it. Where had w'e 
ever heard it? Why, it was the name of the mountain, and we named the 
city after the mountain. I named this city and I named it after the 
mountain. Where did the mountain get the name? Why, the Indians 
alw^ays called it by that name, Ta-ho-nia. When this city had its begin- 
ning, all about here was primeval forests ; Indians dwelt along this shore 
and on the shore across Commencement Bay. They all called the moun- 
tain Ta-ho-ma. We learned the name from the Indians ; that's all there is 
about it. The name we gave to the city was the nearest expression that 
English orthography could give to the Indian gutteral name Ta-ho-ma. 
Why, when General McCarver, my father-in-law, laid out the first town- 
site over in Old Town, he came down to Portland with the plans to draft 
the papers. He proposed to call it 'Commencement City,' after the bay. 
I said at once that would never do. The name was not pretty, and it was 
too big and ungainly ; besides, it would open the way to ridicule — just 
think of naming a town Commencement City ! Tahoma, the name of the 
mountain, popped into my head, and we changed the name to Tacoma. 
That was the way it was. The city was named in Portland, and it was 
named after the mountain. And Tacoma is the name of the mountain." 



Olympia, Wash., Feb. 11, 1892. 
^'IIoii. /antes Wickersham, Tacoma, Wash. 

"Dear Sir: In reply to yours of the 1st inst., asking for such infor- 
mation as I can give concerning the origin and meaning of tlie word Taco- 
ma: Without particularly referring to your several questions, I will say 
that I have, during my long residence on the Sound, talked with many 

10 



people, both Indians arid whites, who, from their opportunities, would be 
likely to know something of the matter, and that from all the information 
I have been able to gather, I am of the opinion that the word 'Tacoma' is 
of Indian origin, and that the most extended meaning that can be given 
to it is 'white mountain.' 

"I say 'the most extended meaning' for the reason that I have talked 
with intelligent Indians, who assert that 'Tacoma' (they generally pro- 
nounce it Ta-ho-ma) simply means 'mountain,' and that it applies to any 
mountain, whether it has snow on it or not. I think, however, that 'white 
mountain' is the true meaning of the word, for the reasons hereinafter 
mentioned : 

"I conclude that the word is of Indian origin from the fact that the 
Indians generally, not only upon the Sound, but east of the Cascades, so 
far as I am informed, recognize it as such, and as the name of 'Mount 
Rainier,' so-called. And second, because I know of no claim from any 
quarter that the word, or any word resembling it in sound, of other than 
Indian origin, w'as ever applied as the name for that or any other mountain. 

"I conclude that the meaning of the word is white mountain. First 
because the very best authorities — that is, those who have the best means 
of informing themselves upon the subject, say that the word means 'white 
mountain.' And secondly, because Tacoma is pre-eminently a white 
mountain, and that therefore that is the name which the Indians living 
within its sight would naturally give it, and the only one which the other 
tribes of Indians would accept, it being purely descriptive. 

"As I have already remarked, the Indians generally, on both sides of 
the mountains, recognize 'Tacoma' as the name of this particular peak, 
and it strikes me that they do so because this word is strikingly descriptive 
of it. 

"As Tacoma has been accepted and used as the name of the mountain 
in question by various tribes of Indians for an indefinite number of years, 
I, at least, have found it impracticable to determine which tribe used it 
first. It occurs to me, however, wluch is a mere matter of conjecture, that 
places and things generally first receive their names from those who live 
upon or near them, as probable that the name 'Tacoma' originated with 
the people living on the Nesqually at the foot of, and in constant view, of 
said mountain, and that such name was naturally accepted and adopted 
by other tribes in speaking of the people living at the foot of Mount Tacoma 
and their country, until it became general, as seems to have been the case 
with the Indians, as I have jDointed out in this matter. 

"What generations have come and gone since this mountain was 
named Tacoma or Tahoma, is, I think, beyond successful human investi- 
gation. 

"Regretting that I cannot give you more satisfactory information on 
the subject, "I am, yours truly, 

"Francis Henry." 



In the American Anthropologist for January, 1892, is an article on "Abo- 
riginal Geographic Names," by Rev. Myron Eells, of the Skokomish 

11 



Reservation, a high authority on such matters. Mr. Eells says: "Mr. M. 
W. Walker, who has lived much among the Indians on the east side of the 
Cascade Mountains, is confident that the word originated among some of 
those Indians, probably the Tahamas, was originally Tah-ho-ma, and 
meant 'the gods.' 

In southern Oregon is a tribe of Indians named the "A-cho-ma-wi,'' 
and Powers, in "Contributions to North American Ethnology,'' gives the 
derivation of this name from "A-cho-ma," a river. 

The Pima Indians of Arizona call the Gila river "Ack-omah," which 
is the same pronunciation, spelled differently, as the "Acho-ma-wi" of 
Oregon use. Add the "t" in either instance and you have Tacoma. The 
Chinook Indians, an ancient tribe living around the mouth of tlie Colum- 
bia river, called the ocean "Wecoma." 



In the '■^Mountains of Oregon,'''' by W. G. Steele, of the Oregon Alpine 
Club, at page 55, is an interesting letter from Edwin Eells, United States 
Indian Agent for the Puyallup and Consolidated Agencies, dated December 
8, 1886, in which Mr. EeUs says: "The Indian word 'Ta-ko-bet' or Take- 
man, the first being the most general pronunciation used among the In- 
dians, but both words are used, being the different pronunciation used by 
the dialects. It means a white mountain, and is a general name for any 
high, snow-covered or white treeless peak. It is applied to this mountain 
by the Indians of this vicinity, because it is the only or most prominent 
one of this kind in the vicinity. They used the word as we would speak of 
'the white mountain,' there being but one near us. In the Skadget lan- 
guage the word is a little different, and is there called Ko-ma, and is ap- 
plied by these Indians to Mount Baker, it being the mountain in that vi- 
cinity of the kind. The word squatach, or squat-letsh, is the general name 
for a range of mountains, while Ta-ko-bet or Ta-ko-man or Ko-ma, is the 
name of the snow-covered or white peaks in the range." 



P. B. Van Trump, of Yelm, the most indefatigable mountaineer in 
Washington, whose accomplishments drew from Hon. Elwood Evans the 
expression of "that splendid scholar and writer, P. B. Van Trump, Esq.," 
is quoted in the American Anthropologist, of January, 1892, in Rev. Myron 
Eells' article on "Aboriginal Geographic Names," as follows: 

"The first Indian I heard pronounce the name of the mountain was 
old Sluiskin, who guided General Stevens and myself to the snow line 
when we made the first ascent to the summit in 1870. Sluiskin's pronun- 
ciation, as near as I can represent it by letters, was Tah-ho-mah, and in 
his rendering of it there was, besides its music, an accent of awe and 
reverence, for Sluiskin was very imaginative and superstitious about Ta- 
lioma, believing that its hoary summit was the abode of a powerful spirit, 
who was the author of its eruptions and avalanches, and who w'ould visit 
dire vengeance on any mortal who would dare to invade (if that were pos- 
sible) his dread abode. When Stevens and I were encamped at the foot 
of the snow line we would often be awakened by the thunder of falling 
rocks or the deep thud of some avalanche. At such times Sluiskin would 

12 



start from his blanket and repeat a dismal, dirge-like song as though he 
would appease the mountain spirit. Mishell Henry, another old Indian 
guide to the two-named mountain, prides himself in giving its true name. 
He has several times drilled me in pronouncing it, always smiling gravely 
and dignifiedly at my ineffectual attempts to give it his deep chest notes 
Henry was the first to mark out the present route to the snow line, and 
even ascend it for two miles without leaving the saddle. He guided our 
party (the Bayley party) in 1883, and himself ascended to the 8000-foot 
level. Beyond that nothing could tempt him, for beyond, in his view, lay 
danger, folly, rashness ; for even Henry, who is intelligent, and much 
more of a philosopher than the rest of his tribe (the Klickitats), associate 
the sublime summit of Tahoma with awe, danger and mystery. Your cor 
resjiondent gives the meaning of 'Tacoma' as 'the mountain.' It is an in 
teresting interpretation, considering the pre-eminence and grandeur of 
tliis noble peak. I have questioned the Indians as to their meaning for 
word Ta-ho-ma. The answer of some show^ed their ignorance of the mean- 
ing. Others, with reticence and suspicion peculiar to the savage mind, 
were stoically non-committal. One interpretation I have heard given is 
'nourishing breasts,' the idea presumably being that the eternal snows of 
the twin summits have given origin to the streams and have occasioned 
the glacial deposits that have enriched the valleys, thus nourishing and 
sustaining vegetable life there just as through the ages the maternal breasts 
have nourished and sustained the youthful human life." 

Sluiskin and Henry, mentioned by Mr. Van Trump, were Klickitats, 
and spoke the Klickitat language. They were of the same race as the 
guide of Theodore Winthrop, in 1853, and spoke the same name to Van 
Trump and General Stevens that Winthrop heard before he first wrote the 
word "Tacoma." Mr. Van Trumjj's statement is so clear, forcible and 
elegantly put that it is most convincing evidence. 

Miss Fay Fuller, the first lady to reach the summit of Tacoma, and her 
father, Edward N. Fuller, Esq., have each made an extended study of the 
mountain, and they have each adopted the Klickitat word as the real name 
for the mountain. 



Tacoma, "Wash., March 4, 1893. 
fames Wicker sham, Esq., Tacoma, Wash, 

My Dear Sir : I came to Steilacoom in 1849 as a member of Company 
IM, Fourth Artillery, Captain Hill. After my discharge I took a donation 
claim where the Puyallup Indian reservation now is, and have lived in 
Pierce county ever since 1849. I married my wife Elizabeth in 1849. She 
was a Puyallup Indian woman, and I lived with her until her death in 
1887. I talk the Puyallup-Nesqually Indian language and am familiar with 
their names for localities in this county. 

The Puyallup-Nesqually name for Mount Tacoma has been, to my 
knowledge since 1849, the word "Ta-co-ba," and has reference to the frozen 
top of the mountain. 

Very respectfully, 

Jacob Kershner. 

13 



riiikT (Uite of February 22, 1893, P. P.. Van Trniup, of Yeliii, writes 
coneeniing the name Taconia, the reason •svhy so little is known concern- 
ing Indian geographical names, and the opposition of ^Ir. Harvey 8cott, 
editor of the Oregonian, to the use of the word Tacoma. "He did not state, 
however, that he had ever directly questioned the Indians as to what 
name in their own language, they called the mountain. If he had he would 
doubtless have so stated in his comments. The Indian (unless since the 
whites began to call the mountain Tacoma) never uses his own name for 
the mountain when speaking of it to a white man. If he is speaking in 
Chinook, which is ahnost certain to Ije the case, he will call it "la moun- 
tain." To illustrate how unusual it is for an Indian to speak his dialect 
name for the mountain when talking to a w^hite person and to show how 
natural it was for the Indian in that early day (before 1857 I think) not to 
mention to Mr. Scott his native name for the mountain, I will mention a 
fact in my own history and that of my wife. There is an Indian woman 
now liAdng at Yelm, where she has lived for at least forty years, wdio is a 
niece of the chief Owlii, with whom Winthrop negotiated for horses and 
a o-uide across the mountains. Now% although I have know^n this niece of 
Owhi for more than ten years, have many a time talked with her and 
traded with her ; although my wife has known her for more than thirty 
years and has always been a great favorite with this descendant of Owhi, 
yet neither of us heard her speak the Indian name of the mountain until less 
than a month ago, and then it was in reply to a direct question as to what 
the Indians call the mountain in their ow^n language. Instantly the reply 
was "Tacobet," which she said was always the Indian name of the moun- 
tain. She had lived so long among the Nesquallies (from infancy no doubt) 
that she had forgotten, if she ever knew, the Klickitat "Tahoma." 

This "niece of Owhi" is quite certainly a cousin to Loolowcan, the 
Klickitat, the son of Owhi, who acted as Theodore Winthrop's guide in 
1853, and from whom Winthrop received the Klickitat word "Tahoma." 
This word is pronounced with the "h" hard rather as if it were "ch," and 
with that pronunciation ringing in his ears from the ragged but royal son 
of Owhi, Winthrop wrote for the first time "Tacoma." May his memory 
last until that of Tacoma fades ! 



IS IT A MEXICAN WORD? 

The Quiches, of Guatemala, tell a wonderful story of the early migra- 
tion of their race, which will be found in full in Bancroft : Native Races, 
Vol. 3, p. 50. After relating many interesting matters concerning their 
gods, etc., the story proceeds : "Other people received gods at the same 
time ; and it had been for all a long march to Tulan. Now the Quicheg 
had as yet no fire, and as Tulan was a much colder climate than the happy 
Eastern land that they had left, they soon began to feel the want of it. 
The god Tohil, who was the creator of fire, had some in his possession ; so 
to him, as was most natural, the Quitches api)licil, and Tohil in some way 
supplied them wdth fire. But shortly after there fell a great rain that ex- 
tinguished all the fires of the land ; and much hail also fell on the heads 
of the people ; and because of the rain and the hail their fires were utterly 

14 



scattered and put out. * * ]Many other trials they also underwent in 
Tulan, famines and such things, and a general dampness and cold — for the 
earth was moist, there being as yet no sun. They determined to leave 
Tulan, and the greater part of them set out to see where they should take 
up their abode. * * Poor wanderers ! they had a cruel way to go, many 
forests to pierce, many stern mountains to overpass and a long passage to 
make through the sea, along the shingle and pebbles and drifted sand — 
the sea being, however, parted for their passage." 

It is maintained by some authorities that this is an authentic history 
of the migration of these people from Asia to America, by way of the Aleu- 
tian Islands. That Tulan is Kamtschatka, that the way opened for them 
through the sea refers to the islands in the route, and that from Alaska 
they walked the beach — "along the shingle and pebbles and drifted sand" 
to the prairies west of Mount Tacoma, where they again beheld the sun, 
when "the three tribal gods, Tohil, Avilix and Hacavitz, were turned into 
stone." 

Considering the climate of Alaska, the beach, the dense forests, the 
stern mountains, the hail, the rain, the fogs and clouds, we may well ar. 
rive at that conclusion. But this is not all. 

The Haida Indians, of Queen Charlotte's Island, are said to be a 
branch of the Quiches, dropped on the migration, and that their language, 
myths and general characteristics have much to prove a relationship with 
the ancient civilization of Mexico. 

Many relics of the Mound-Builders are found on Vancouver's Island, 
B. C, and from thence south along the line of this Mongolian migration 
to Mexico. Bancroft in Vol. 4, "Native Races," 737-743, gives a full de. 
scription of these far northern mounds, and these added to the other charac- 
teristics of the Haida Indians seems to leave no doubt as to a migration 
from mound-building Asia to mound-building Mexico by this high road so 
graphically described in the Quiche legend. 

Mrs. H. M. Kunzie, of Seattle, Wash., has, during a long residence on 
the spot, collected at the mouth of the Umatilla river, Oregon, the very 
stone gods, Tohil, Avilix and Hacavitz, of the Quiches, or at least exact 
images of those found in the Quiche region of Guatemala ; she has also 
gathered at the same spot a magnificent collection of Mexican stone relics 
including obsidian knives, mortars, calender stone, bronze sword, metates, 
etc., in short a thoroughly characteristic collection of Mexican antiquities 
— rare, complete and priceless. 

On the shores of Puget Sound, near Whatcom, many similar antiqui- 
ties have been found ; jade implements and ornaments line the route of 
this migrant colony from Alaska to ^lexico, and the proof is adding rap- 
idly to show that this pioneer civilization of America went overland in the 
shadow of Mount Tacoma, and in full sight of its hoary head, capped with 
eternal snows and proudly reared above the clouds. That its grand image 
—its great cone— possibly its then existing volcanic flame— made a lasting 
impression on these newly arrived ^longolians is not to be doubted. 

Did these passing wanderers attach the name Tacoma to this moun- 
tain? I i now we find that Tacoma was one of their names — if Ave show 

15 



tliat it is a thorough ISIexican name — a noun, and applicaV)lt' ; that it is 
found in Mexico yet, it will follow that if the migration is possible the 
naming is equally so. 

In the state of Coluua, ^lexico, is the city of "Tecoman," which has 
the exact pronunciation given l)y Mr. Peter Stanup to one of his forms of 
the Indian name of our mountain. 

Not long since the Zd-'/^tr contained the following item: "Since the 
Mexican Central Railroad from Pueblo to Tecomavaca was opened, no less 
than 1000 tons of onyx have passed over it," 

On the map in the front of Bancroft's "Native Races," Vol. Y,, giving 
the country immediately adjacent to the City of Mexico, we find the cities 
or towns of "Tecaman," and "Acolman," while other forms of the word 
are common in the Mexican states. 

"Acoma, the City of the Sky," is an ancient pueblo in New Mexico. 
Its unique position on the almost inaccessible summit of a table mountain, 
many hundred feet high, its age, hazy past, air of mystery and ancient 
civilization give it an interest second to none in our country ; but to us it is 
of peculiar interest on account of the name, which is pronounced exactly 
like our Tacoma Avithout the first letter. 

One of the principal tribes of the Coahuiltican family of nortliern 
Mexico and Southern Texas is the "Tecame," the pronunciation of which 
differs but little from our word. Evidently the city of "Tecaman" has 
reference to this tribe also. 

In the Seventh Annual Report of Bureau of Ethnology, under the title 
of the Copelan family, a reference is made to the subtribe "My-acoma" 
situated in northern California, near the Acho-mawi, from "Acho-ma" or 
"river" people. 

San J. Bautiste (Tabasco), Jan. 19, 1893. 
Mr. lames Wicker sham, l^acoma. Wash. 

My Esteemed Senor : The contents of your esteemed letter of the 23d 
of December were of great interest to me, and well deserve that I should 
devote to it a special amount of time and study. In order, however, that 
your worship may not wait for my answer, I hasten with pleasure to put 
mj'self to discuss the subject of your letter to put your worship at rest, as 
far as it is possible for me to do so. 

Being simply a question of a geographical name of Indian origin, your 
worship has certainly devoted to it much study at this moment. 

The word Tacoma, to which your worship refers, contains a Nahuatl 
or old Mexican construction (element), which is very characteristic. It 
claims our attention by it being met with so far north and so distant from 
the territory which is occupied actually by the tribes that are descended 
from the primitive stock; and to speak the truth, this circumstance would 
in the last instance (case), be a new proof (confirmation) of the powerful 
influence that was once exercised by the people through all the territories 
over which it ruled, all through which it journeyed, during the long itiner- 
ary of its perigrinations. 

Therefore, although the word has been much mutilated in the actual 

16 



living language, I will, according to the present, expose to your worship 
my own humble opinions as follows : 

(1.) The vowel "A," in the English idiom in the present case, has a 
sound which is similar to the "E" in the Spanish and of the Nahuatl, and 
by consequence the first syllable of the words which I shall analyze would 
be "Te," and the whole word would be "Tecoma." 

(2.) This modification established, we obtain a word which has in the 
Nahuatl idiom the signification "friend at first sight," because as a con- 
traction (apocope) or conjunction of the words "Tecomatl" (Vase of Cala- 
baga, according to Rincon in his work Mexican Art, p. 86, INIex. 1885. ) 

(3.) Therefore it is very probable that in the word "Tecoma" there 
are lacking other letters which, when restored, would contribute to give it 
an acceptable signification ; thus, for example we could decompose it into 
"Tecolman," which means heaps of coal; and of the verb "ma," which 
means to dig (or raise anything from the earth), which conjugated gives 
"man" and contains the transformations of "Tacoma," "Tecoma" or 
"Tecolman," which, rendered into Spanish, means "the place from which 
you get coal." 

As regards the names "Tacobet" and "Tacoma," which have been 
given by other tribes to the mountain, I am unable to pronounce a sentence. 

I have devoted myself to the study of the indigenous languages of the 
Southern tribes, so could not undertake to analyze words that derive their 
origin from the living languages of the North, or from any dead languages 
that have not been mentioned by other historians. 

* * * * * ^f. 4J. 

Could you have the kindness to place me in relation with some im- 
portant philological association or academy. 

May it please your worship to accept my respects, etc., etc. 

Jose N. Rovirosa. 
[Translated from the Spanish by Dr. Gundlogson, Feb. 8, 1893.] 



City of Mexico, No. 11 Avenida Balueras, ) 
March, 1, 1893. \ 

Mr. James Wickersham. 

Dear Sir : Your letter of inquiry in regard to Tacoma was received 
late last night. This morning I took your letter to my friend Prof. Oniedo, 
and he told me "Tacoma signifies caheza — head. It can be separated into 
the roots "tetle" — stone, and "camitle" — a hollow vessel. 

There is a village in the valley of Mexico that is called "Tecomitle." 
"Tecomale" is the name of a tree of the family grape. From the root 
"teco" are formed many words, as "tecopote," a crabapple tree; "teco- 
lote,"anowl; "tecomarania," "tlacateco," and signifies "head" or like- 
ness of head. 

* * * * * * v 

Yours sincerely, 

D. F. \Yatkins. 



In volume 6, North American Sylva, Nuttal, page 74, is a description of 
the trumpet flower, "Tecoma Radicans," with a foot note by the author, 

17 



wliicli rvddti that the name is "from Tet'omaxocliill, tlie aboriginal Mexi- 
can name of one of the species?" 



Many other forms of the word occur in ]Mexico, even into the terri- 
tories of the Mayas, all of which is too intricate and dry for an extended 
examination ; sufficient to say that the word Tacoma in its different forms 
is the most common in the ancient languages of INIexico, and signifies in 
these various forms a head, a place from whence you get coal, a iiollow 
vessel, a high vine, a trumpet flower, etc. May it also have been applied 
by these people, in their migrations southward, to the grandest snow- 
capped volcanic cone in the world? When they reached the meadows of 
the Nesqually plains — when they had emerged from the forests, mountains 
and fogs of their long southward journey on the seashore, and saw the sun 
once more, as it rose over this grand peak, may they not have attached 
this name to the mountain, which more recently they have given to so 
many of their towns in ancient Mexico? Quzf/i Sabei 



INDIAN NOMENCLATURE. 

Many of the myths and traditions told by our Nesqually-Puyallup peo- 
ple are worthy of Greek or Norse mythology. Their religious feelings are 
natural, deep and fervent, and their music, art and mechanical skill, 
while rude, have many points of excellence. Their language is capable of 
fine distinctions. They bestowed names on every little lake, point, bay 
and camping ground ; they had particular names for places and prominent 
points, but no general names. Thus "Puyallup" was the name of the 
camp ground on the east side of that river below the reservation, but the 
river had no name ; there were as many names for it as they had camping 
places along its banks. Each of tlie prominent peaks in both the Cascade 
and Olympic ranges had names, but neither of the ranges had; they had 
names for individuals, but not for classes or systems. 

The Indian looked with awe and superstition upon the snowy summit 
of Tacoma. He visited the base, but never ascended above the snow line. 
The roar of falling waters, the disintegration of its rocky walls, the loud 
snapping of its glaciers were to him mysterious, solemn and fearful. Each 
mat home was filled with stories and traditions concerning it — and yet we 
are told he had no name for it. Walk, as the writer has, through the for- 
est with a bright Indian, and ask him the names of i>lants, animals, birds 
and bugs — everything of common life to him — and you will be surprised at 
the readiness with which the names follow your questions. I was put to 
shame at my ignorance of botany by my friend, George Leschi, who, as a 
boy, followed his father in hostile camps, and who cannot now read or 
write his name. The Indian language is peculiarly rich in nouns — in 
names. The Indians had a name for the grand mountain we call Tacoma. 

What is the name? 

Ask the Indians. Thousands of them yet live in sight of its snowy 
summit, and are the best witnesses of what the name is. I have asked 
them, and here are their answers : 

18 



"Mro Bay, June 7, 1892. 
"We, the undersigned, being Indians born near Mount Tacoma, do say ; 
That the mountain was always called by the Nesqually tribe "Tacobet." 
Edward Smith, .... age 29 years. 
George Leschi, his [X] mark, age 40 years. 
Charlie Walker, his [X] mark, age 56 years. 
Louis Yowaluch, his [X] mark, age 45 years. 
Harry, his [X] mark, - - age 50 years. 
James Walker, his [X] mark, age 53 years. 
Jack Simmons, his [X] mark. 



"PuYALLUP Eeservation, Oct. 9, 1892. 
"We, the undersigned Indians, belonging to the Puyallup Reserva- 
tion, do say: That the Nesqually-Puyallup name for Mount Tacoma is 
"Tacobet." The Klickitat name is "Tahoma." The Indian name for 
Mount Adams is "Pah-to," and of Mount St. Helens is "Seuck" or "Seuk." 

George Leschi, his [X] mark, age 40 years. 

Bill James, his [X] mark, - age 39 years. 

Jack Simmons, his [X] mark, - age 39 years. 

William Bob, his [X] mark, - age 32 years. 

Bill Petowow, his [X] mark, - age 49 years. 

George Walker, his [X] mark, age 60 years. 

Yelm Jim, his [X] mark, - - age 60 years. 

October 20, 1892. 
"We, being Indians raised near Port Orchard Bay and White River, 
do say that the Indian name for Mount Tacoma was, ever since we could 
remember, and always before, called 'Tacobet.' The mountain this side 
of the great mountain cone is called 'Tc-Wauck.' The Olympic mountains 
are called 'Tu-ad-och Spadit.' 

[Signed] : "Jack Simmons, his [X] mark, age 39 years." 

"Thos. Simmons, his [X] mark, age 60 years." 



Tacoma, Wash., Jan. 30, 1893. 
^^Jamcs Wicker sham, Tacoma, Wash. 

Dear Sir : The common Puyallup Indian name for the great moun- 
tain is 'Takoman' or Takoban,' and also called by the Klickitats 'Tachoma.' 
It is also sometimes referred to as 'Tuwouk,' the head of the Puyallup 
River. Respectfully yours, 

P. C. Stanup. 

Seattle, Wash., Jan. 25, 1893. 
"I, Angeline, the daughter of Seattle, do say that the old Indian 
name for the great moiintain atthe head of the nesqually is 'tacobet,' 

AND that my father, SEATTLE, ALWAYS CALLED IT BY THAT NAME. 

"ANGELINE, her [XJ mark, 

"Daughter of Seattle." 

"On this 25th day of January, at Seattli:, Wash., Angeline, the 
daughter of Chief Seattle, signed the above paper with her mark, 

19 



aktek it was kxplainki) til ilek. slie said that (iod named the mol^ntain 
Tacobkt, and only He could change it. 

JACK SIMMONf^, nis [XJ mark. 

Tacoma, March 11, 1893. 
I, Moses Seattle, do sav that I am the son of James Seattle, who 

WAS THE son of SEATTLE, CHIEF OF THE DwAMISH TRIBE. I KNOW THE IXDIAX 

name ok the great mountain at the head of the puyallup river. tlie 
Indian name is and always was Tacobet. My father and all my people 

ALWAYS CALLED IT TaCOBET. ThE InDIAN NAME FOR SEATTLE IS "SeACHL." 

MOSES SEATTLE. 

This young man, Moses Seattle, wrote the above with his own liand, 
})eing a graduate of the Indian scliool at Forest Grove, Oregon. He is well 
educated and writes a pretty fair hand ; he is quite intelligent and under- 
stands as well as any one the importance of what he wrote. He says 
positively that all the relatives of old Chief Seattle call the mountain 
Tacobet, and always did so, even before the first white man came into the 
country. He says, moreover, that there is no such word as "Seattle;" 
that the word is properly pronounced "Se-achl," and that Tacoma is 
nearer the true Indian word Tacoliet than Seattle is to Se-achl. 



PuYALLUP Indian Reservation, Jan. 30, 1893. 
We, the undersigned, who talk the Puyallup-Kesqually language, do 
say that the old Indian name for the mountain is "Tacobet," and always 
was so before the whites came. 

Martha [X[ Bill. Lucy [X] Simons. 

Janimy [X] Bill, Texas [X] Bill. 

GouK [X] Simmons. Mary [X] Sitwell. 

Mary [X] Simmons. George [X] Bird. 

Charlie [X] Jackson. Mrs. [X] Sitwell. 

Sally [X] Jackson. Bill [X] Meanna. 

Major [X] Hamilton. Mrs. [X] Meanna. 

Ellen [X] Howard. Sally [X] Meanna. 

Jean ]X] Garrison. Mrs. [X] Old Jack. 

James [X] Riley. Chehalis [X] Bill. 

Bill [X] James. Bersy [X] Bill. 

Alice [X] James. 

We, the undersigned, Klickitat and Yakima Indians, now living on 
the Yakima Reservation, say that the old Indian name for Mount 
Tacoma is, and always avas, "Ta-ho-ma." 

Wn,HUR Spencer. 
AiiiiAHAM Lincoln. 

CU\ lU.ES W A N N ASS A Y . 

I certify that the above Indians signed the above paper after thor- 
oughly understanding it. 

Jay Lynch, United States Indian Agent. 

20 



U. S. Indian Service: Yakima Agency./ 
Fort Simcoe, Janiiiiry 1^9, 1893. f 
Hon. lames IVicke) sham, Tacoma, IVash. 

Dear Sir : According to promise I send you statement from Indians 
in regard to Indian name for Mount Tacoma, or Rainier. 

I have talked with several Indians in regard to this matter, and they 
say that the Indian name for the mountain is, and always was, "Ta-ho- 
ma." Wilbur Spencer, son of old Chief Spencer, and the best interpreter 
and an educated Indian, says the meaning of the word is a "rumbling 
noise or sound." 

The Indian name for Mount Adams is "Pao-too," meaning high, 
sloping mountain. The Indian name for Mount St. Helens is "Lah-me-lat- 
clah," meaning "fire mountain." 

Very respectfully yours. 

Jay Lynch, United States Indian Agent. 



In Indian the letter h has the hard sound — almost invariably. The 
word Tahoma forms no exception to the rule, and it is pronounced as if 
there was a faint c before the h — "Tachoma." It is usually spelled, how'- 
ever, without the sound of the c, but no one can study the Indian lan- 
guage, compare the sounds, spell the words and write them as in English 
without being at once struck with this hard sound of the letter h. It has 
the same pronunciation in Indian that it has in Chinese. 

We, the undersigned, being Indians who talk the Klickitat- Yakima 
language, do hereby say that the Klickitat- Yakima name for the great 
mountain, at the head of the Nesqually river, is 'Tach-oma,' and that was 
the old Indian name for the mountain before the white men came to the 
country. 

"George Leschi, his [XJ mark. 

Son of Chief Quiemuth. 
"Mrs. Napoleon, her [X] mark. 
Daughter of Chief Leschi. 
"Mrs. Napoleon. 

Daughter of Chief Kitsap. 
"William Charley. 
"Mrs. Jannie Charley. 
"Blind Bob. 
"Burnt Charley. 
"Mrs. Bcrnt Charley. 
"William Penio. 
"Harry Taylor. 
"Mrs. Louise Taylor. 
• "Henry Taylor. 

"Paul Wynaco. 
"Mrs. Yelm Jim, 
"Mrs. James Riley. 
"James Riley." 

21 



THE EXACT WORD — TACOMA. 

In August, 1853, Theodore Winthrop journeyed from Port Townsend 
to Squally in a royal canoe of Olallamdom, paddled by the Duke of York 
and other aristocratically named retainers. At Nesqually he outfitted for 
a ride to The Dalles, Ore., via the Natchez pass, and was furnished as a 
guide a young Klickitat brave, the son of Owhi, whose annual journeys to 
Squally from Yakima meadows made it a familiar trail to him. Across the 
flower-carpeted plains from Nesqually rode Winthrop, the poet, and Owhi's 
son ; into the dark recesses of the Puyallup forest, wading the unbridged 
waters of Skamish, over logs, up Alpine heights — but always in the shadow 
of the great white mountain, so full of mystery to the guide. 

The white man was a poet — sensitive, cultured and refined ; tlie In- 
dian, nature's child, superstitious and imaginative ; and as they journeyed 
into this vast solitude, these poetical natures were drawn into close rela- 
tionship. From Loolowcan, the Klickitat, the son of Owhi, Winthrop 
heard the name of "Tachoma," and to the fortunate choice of this guide 
we are indebted for the exact word Tacoma, as it appears in Winthrop' s 
book, "Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1862," but written 
nine years previously. 

A few quotations from the first author tousetheexact word "Tacoma"' 
will be peculiarly appropriate at this time, as they bear directly on the 
subject under discussion. Concerning his journey from Port Townsend to 
Squally, he writes, on page 43, "Canoe and Saddle:" 

"We had rounded a point, and opened Puyallup Bay, a breadth of 
sheltered calmness, when I, lifting sleepy eyelids for a dreamy stare about, 
was suddenly aware of a vast white shadow in the water. What cloxid, 
piled massive on the horizon, could cast an image so sharp in outline, so 
full of vigorous detail of surface? No cloud, as my stare, no longer dream- 
ing, presently discovered — no cloud, but a cloud compeller. 

"It was a giant mountain dome of snow, swelling and seeming to fill 
the aerial spheres as its image displaced the blue deep of tranquil water. 
Kingly and alone stood this majesty, without any visible comrade or con- 
sort, though far to the north and south its brethren and sisters dominated 
their realms, each in isolated sovereignty, rising above the pine-darkened 
sierra of the Cascade mountains, above the stern chasm where the Colum- 
bia — Achilles of rivers, sweeps, short-lived and jubilant, to the sea; above 
the lovely vales of the Willamette and Umpqua. Of all the peaks from 
California to Fraser River, this one before me was royalest. Mount Reg- 
nier. Christians have dubbed it in stupid nomenclature, perpetuating the 
name of somebody or nobody. More melodiously the Siwashes call it Ta- 
coma, a generic name, also applied to all snow peaks. 

"Farthest away in the west, as near the western sea as mountains can 
stand, are the Cascades. Sailors can descry a land-mark summit, firmer 
than clouds, a hundred miles away. Kulshan, named Mount Baker by the 
vulgar, is their northermost buttress up to 49 degrees and Fraser River. 
Kulshan is an irregular, massive, round-shaped peak, worthy to stand a 
white emblem of perpetual peace between us and our brother Britons. 

22 



"Its name I got from the Lummi tribe at its base, after I had dipped 
in their pot at a boiled salmon feast. As to Baker, that name should be 
forgotten. Mountains should not be insulted by being named after undis- 
tinguished bipeds nor by the prefix 'Mount.' Mount Ohimborazo seems 
as feeble as Mr. Julius Csesar." 



Most of the authorities quoted give the meaning of the word Tacoma 
as "nourishing breast," on account, presumably, of its conical shape. 
The Yakimas say it means a "rumbling noise," while another version is 
that it means "the gods." From an intimate examination of the question 
and from a careful consultation with a large number of Indians, I am 
satisfied that they have entirely lost the meaning, if ever they had one. 
No Indian ever made claim, in my presence, that the name had reference 
to a "nourishing breast" and I am entirely satisfied that that interpre- 
tation is fanciful and not real. 



The Nesqually word "tak" means "inland, or away from the water." 
"Ta" is a Nesqually-Puyallup root and is the base of "this," "tliat,," 
"what," and "the." "Ta-hats-chebadats" means "the tall tree." "Ta- 
stub-kate" means "the very top." "Ta-schuck" means "the high," having 
reference to the sky. 

The word "Ko" means water in Nesqually; "ba-ko" or "ma-ko," 
snow, "ko-ba-shed" means that the feet are frozen ; "ko-ba-chi" that the 
hand is frozen; and "ko-box" that the nose is frozen. "Ko-bat-chid" or 
"ko-ma-chin" means rainbow. 

Here we have "ta" meaning "the;" "ko" meaning "water;" while 
the last syllable "ma" also has reference to snow; the word "ba" or "ma" 
is said to mean to scatter — as the snow ; and if these sounds and words be 
properly understood, we have in the word Tacoma a combination havin^ 
reference to the scattered snow on the mountain top. 

Mount Adams is named by the aborigines "Pah-too" and means high, 
sloping mountain; Mount St. Helens is called "Lah-me-lat-clah" and 
means "fire mountain." When we consider the shape of Adams, and that 
St. Helens has actually ejected fire within historic days, these names seem 
proper, as being descriptive of the characteristic feature of the particular 
peak. The same is true of the word Tacoma; the cold and silent summit 
is white with never melting snow ; and it is the only mountain of that 
kind which they had constantly before them. The summer sun cleared 
the tops of all the other peaks within their range of vision ; the Olympics 
were entirely bare in the height of summer, as were the peaks of the 
Cascade range so far as they could see ; for Adams and St. Helens were 
hidden behind the range, and also had other names from other reasons. 
So Tacoma was to them pre-eminently the snow covered mountain. 

It is not true, as apparently suggested by many, that Tacoma is a 
generic term, meaning any snow covered mountain. jNIount Baker is 
named by the Indians "Kulshan :" Mount Adams, "Pah-too," and St. 
Helens, "Seuq." These names are all distinct, and are never applied to 
any other mountain. No authority can point to one instance where 

23 



"TacolK't" or "Tahoma" has been applied to any other mountain; the 
mistake arises in tlie explanation of persons who try to say that Tacoma 
is a word meaning generally a snow covered mountain. They would not, 
if cross examined, say that it ever had application to any other mountain 
than this one ; they do not say so ; but their explanations are so vague 
that it leaves a chance for argument which does not exist if the facts are 
properly understood. 

"Tacobet," "Tahoma," and "Tacoma" are not generic terms which 

MAY BE APPLIED INDISCRIMINATELY TO ANY HIGH MOUNTAIN : ThEY ARE SIMPLY 
THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF THE INDIAN NAME FOR MoUNT TACOMA, AND ARE AK 
SOLELY THE NAME OP THAT ONE MOUNTAIN AS "PaH-TOO" IS OF AdAMS, "SEUCi" 

OK St. Helens and "Kulshan" of Baker. 



CONCLUSIONS. 

(1). The Puget Sound Indian name for the mountain is either "Ta-co- 
bet," "Tacoba," or "Tackob." The "b" in Indian is interchangeable 
with "m," and hence we also have the forms "Tacoman" and "Tacoban" 
as given by Mr. Peter Stanup. 

(2). The Yakima-Klickitat name is "Ta-cho-ma," with the "ch" as 
in German, but most frequently written as "Ta-ho-ma." 

(3). The word means "snow-covered mountain." 

(4). The word "Tacoma" is a fair, honest Indian noun. 

(5). The word "Tacoma" should be preserved as the name of this 
royal mountain peak, and "Mount Rainier" should be abandoned. 



The special attention of the people of Puget Sound is called to the fact 
that the reservation made by the President is only a forest reserve. It is 
not a park, nor is it yet set apart for the public at all. It is a simple with- 
drawal of that much of the public domain from disposal under the public 
land laws, and is not intended in any manner for the use of the public. 
The President has no power to improve it, or to permit others to do so, and 
each of our citizens going upon the reserve simply becomes a trespasser. 
It is not open to the public, but by the act of withdrawal it is beyond the 
power of any citizen to acquire either temporary or permanent riglits 
therein, except by act of Congress . 

What we now want is an act of Congress speciallj' setting this apart as 
a park, donating it to the State of Washington, and providing for its care 
and custody by the State for the benefit of the public." 



At the close of the paper the Indians present were called upon, and 
gave verbal testimony concerning the name of the mountain, pronouncing 
it Tacobet or Tahoma. 

General A. Y. Kautz, a veteran of the Puyallnp war of 1855, who first 
ascended Mount Tacoma, was present and added the weight of his author- 

24 



ity in favor of Tacoma. Lieutenant Van Ogle, also a veteran of 1855 said : 
Gentlemen- : I have not much to say about it. From what I used to 
learn from the Indians, the name is "Tahoma." One of the chiefs that 
used to try to teach me Chinook in the early days told me the mountain's 
name was "Tacobet." 

Then came the most interesting part of the proceedings, the talks of 
the Indians. The younger men all talked fairly good English. The old 
man Hiaton, who is over 80 years of age, spoke with a good deal of native 
dignity and deliberateness. His words were translated by George Lesclii. 
He would speak a few words, gesticulating quite freely, and then pause for 
the interpreter to proceed. Jack Simmons said : 

Ladies and Gentlemen : I can't talk to you very much. Always was 
this mountain here (pointing) called "Tacobet." I think Tacoma is the 
closest name that white men call. All the La Conner Indians and all over 
the Sound give you his name "Tacobet." 

John Powers rose up and spoke next. Said he : 

Gentlemen : My mother was an Indian and my father a white man. 
The only name the mountain is called by Indians is "Tacobet" — "Ta- 
cobet," that all the name it called. 

George Leschi said : 

Well, my good friends, I can't talk much, but the name of the moun- 
tain is "Tacobet," and the Klickitats call it "Tahoma." I am about 
three-quarters Klickitat, balance Nesqually. 

The old man, John Hiaton, was then called upon, and was interpreted 
by Leschi. He first looked all around, and with a dignified gesture said: 

I see all the ladies and gentlemen. I am going to call the name of the 
mountain — the name God gave it. God put me down here before you came 
here. He put me here for seed — perhaps He sent you here. My people 
call the mountain "Tacobet" — George, his name (pointing to George); 
"Tacobet" mountain's name — nobody can change — that is all. 

Upon being asked, Jack Simmons, who is a nephew of old Chief Se- 
attle, said that his name was pronounced by the Indians "Se-achl," and 
not Seattle. 

Upon motion the meeting adjourned. 

M. S. Hill, 

Secretary T. A. S. 



JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING. 

At a joint committee meeting held May 3, 1893, at which were present 
George W. Thompson, President of the Chamber of Commerce ; E. L, 
Shafner, Secretary of the Commercial Club; Meriden S. Hill, Secretary of 
the Tacoma Academy of Science, and Fred G. Plummer, Secretary of the 
Washington Alpine Club, a resolution was unanimously adopted request- 
ing the Academy of Science to issue a second edition of 3000 copies of Judge 
Wickersham's paper on the name of Mount Tacoma, with a supplement 
containing extracts from some of the communications received since the 
issue of the first edition. 



President Allyn appointed Judge Wickersham, Secretary Meriden S. 
Hill and Secretary Fred G. Plummer of the Alpine Club to prepare the 
second edition. 



SUPPLEMENT. 



PoYNTERS Grove, ) 

TOTTERIDGE, HeRTS., V 

March 13, 1893. ) 
Judge Wicker sham, Tacoma. 

Dear Sir : I have duly received your pamphlet about Mount Eainier, 
or Tacoma, I think I told you that beyond reading in Vancouver's travels 
that he had named the striking object Mount Rainier, and the Sound, 
Puget's Sound, in May, 1792, and that he was my great-uncle, I have 
nothing of interest to supply, either biographical or pictorial. I quite 
agree that the name of the mountain should be what it originally bore in 
times past before Vancouver gave it a new name. Thanking you for your 
booklet, I remain. Yours faithfully, 

John Puget, Colonel. 



Royal Geographical Society, ^ 
No. 1 Saville Row, 
Burlington Garden. VV,, 

April 11. 1893. 

Dear Sir: The secretary desires me to acknowledge your letter of 
March 15th, and to send you the papers you ask for, with the compliments 
of the society. He also sends a short paper on mountain nomenclature, 
in which you will see the views which he has held for some time — views 
very similar to those you express in your interesting pamphlet on Mt. 
Tacoma. Yours sincerely, 

Hugh Robert Mill, 
Librarian R. G. S. 

The Royal Geographical Society of England is the highest of all au- 
thorities on geographical matters, including geographical names. Included" 
with the letter of the librarian of the society was a pamphlet prepared by 
the secretary of the Royal Geographical Society of England, Mr. W. 
Douglas Freshfield, on the proper name of "Mont Everest," in India. 

"Mont Everest^, " in the Himalayas, is the highest mountain peak in 
the world, rising 29,000 feet above the level of the sea. The name was 
bestowed on the mountain in 1856 by Sir Andrew Waugh, and was compli- 
mentary to Sir George Everest. Immediately there rose a protest from 
many eminent geographers, who insisted, very properly, that the native 
Indian names should have the preference. They protested against the 
name of even an eminent scholar being attached to the highest mountain 
in the world, when the natives of the immediate surrounding country had 
already given it a fitting name. 

27 



t^evcral native names came forwanl. The controversy became almost 
international, and AV. Douglas Freshfield, the secretary of the Royal Geo- 
^ira})iiical Society of England, prepared and read before the society in 1886 
an article entitled "Further Notes on 'Mont Everest,' " in which he clearly 
sets forth the reasons for adopting the native name. His arguments are 
so clear and convincing, and fit the case of Mount Tacoma vs. Rainier so 
closely, that it would seem as if it would forever settle the question. 
The following extracts are taken from his paper in defence of the native 
Indian name as against ''Mont Everest:" 

"But here is proof, at any rate, that a native name was used fur the 
group before Everest was assigned to its crowning pinnacle ! And I may 
note also that the adjacent summit has had a native name, Makalu, found 
for it by the surveyors, despite its situation in the forbidden territory of 
Nepal, twelve miles less distant. 

I have put forward the facts as far as I know them, but I shall hardly 
be sorry if I fail in my argument, in so far as the assertion that Gauri- 
sanker is the proper name for the great Nepal peak is contained in it. If 

I SUCCEED IN SHOWING THAT THE MOUNTAIN HAS AN APPROPRIATE NATIVE 

NAME I SHALL CONSIDER MY CASE WON. And General Walker has, I consider, 
proved for me this — the material point at issue — by admitting a native 
name for the group, the noblest name man can give — Devadhunga, "The 
Abode of Deity." 



"The true principle of geographical nomenclature is surely that set out 
by Sir A. Waugh and quoted by General Walker — that local and national 
appellations should prevail. Travelers are often far too prone to indulge 
their sentiments or their vanity, to attest their gratitude or their expectation, 
by engrafting exotic names on natural objects. The first requisite in geo- 
graphical names is that they should be appropriate; that they should in 
themselves announce their locality and indicate some natural characteristic 
or human connection. Where the P^nglish race has supplanted its predeces- 
sors it has a fair claim to introduce its own names, though not to the 
extinction of such as already exist. Aorangi (the heaven-piercer) ought 
to have been left as the title of the loftiest of the New Zealand alps, while 
Cook found more appropriate commemoration in some cape or harbor. 
But Mount Darwin and Mount Hooker are not out of place as secondary 
summits. The "icy privacies" of the Poles offer a very suitable field for the 
immortilization of sovereigns and sailors. Uninhabited islands lie naturally 
at the mercy of their first discoverers' imagination — or want of it. But in 
the historic highlands of Asia, amidst the relics of people and languages 
that carry us far back in the story of humanity, such inventions as the 
"Tsar Liberator Mountain," or the "Columbus Range" are too sadly out 
of place." * * * 

"Practically, j^erhaps, the matter at issue may seem a veiy small one — 
a mere matter of convenience and taste. But ethnologically and historic- 
ally it has considerable interest. Shall the greatest mountain we know 
stand forever as a monument of the religious faith of the human race? Or 
shall the space-searching watchman who looks down over the valleys of 

28 



Nepal and the plains of India, light liis fires at sunrise, and at sunset to 
celebrate no greater thought anil no higher fame than that of a most 
meritorious mathematician?" 

"Mr, John Ball wrote some years ago : With the highest estimate of 
the services of General Dufour as director of the admirable Swiss survey, 
the writer does not believe that the name of any individual can remain per- 
manently attached to the highest peak of the second mountain in Europe." 

Mutatis mutandis. I adopt these words in the present case ; and in what 
has taken place in Europe we may find a practical and peaceful solution 
for the similar question that has arisen in Asia. In a few large official 
maps and Swiss books Dufonrspitze maintains a somewhat obscure exis- 
tence; but the great public — "the poets too" — know and will continue to 
know the mountain as Monte Rosa. What would have happened if Byron, 
and Coleridge, and Slielley had had to write of Mont Paccard (the sugges- 
tion was actually made) or Mont Saussure instead of Mont Blanc? 
Fancy Tennyson's lines converted into 

"How faintly ttuslied, how phantom fair, 
The Dufour Spitze was hanging there!" 

English and foreign geographers will, I still think, be well 

ADVISED to hold TO A NATIVE NAME FOR THE HIGHEST MEASURED PEAK, 
WHETHER GaURISANKAR OR DkVADHUNGA, TIME MUST DECIDE." 



Apply the arguments made by the eminent secretary of the Royal 
Geographical Society of England to the case of Mt. Tacoma — use our local 
names in his argument — and where do the opponents of ''Mount Tacoma" 
stand? Clearly outside the pale of geographic nomenclature! No better 
argument can be made for our position than that made by this noble so- 
ciety of English geographers. If England concedes our case, why will not 
America? If the Royal Geographical Society of England grants that the 
native name of this noble American peak be retained instead of Rainier, 
what excuse can the Board on Geographic Names of the United States of 
America give for holding otherwise? 

It isn't even "English, you know." 



Extract from a letter written to the Neiv York Evening Post, by the dis- 
tinguished writer and political economist, David S. Wells : 

"The name Tacoma has already found favor and is claimed to Ije of 
Indian derivation, and if not Indian is strikingly euphonious and ought to 
be the only one recognized and used by the people of this country," 

The Washington Post in its editorial of Feb. 9, 1893, said : 
"The Post has no special interest in the controversy, but is decidedly 
in favor of retaining the original Indian names, where practicable, for 
towns and reservations and other places of note instead of immortahzing 
the names of individuals. Englishmen or otherwise. In this, was the se- 
lection to devolve upon us, we should be very strongly disposed to call the 
roservation 'Mount Tacoma Park,' as being musical in itself, and to Ameri- 
can ears decidedly more euphonious and agreeable than 'Rainier.' " 

29 



Garrett P. Scrviss, that Avoiiderful orator, who is now deligliting east- 
ern audienees with his eloquent descriptions of western scenery, says, in 
the New York Sim: 

"There is no getting around the fact that tlie only active opposition to 
the restoration to the grandest American mountain and its beautiful origi- 
nal appellation arises from spite and jealousy directed against the city 
which has chosen the mountain's name for its own. That, and not Anglo- 
maniac or a desperately judicial regard for the supposed rights of English 
'"explorers," who, sailing along the shores of a continent, clapped the sur- 
names of their friends at home upon the heads of majestic mountains only 
seen by them at a distance of 50 or 100 miles, is the real reason why Mount 
Tacoma cannot possess its name in peace. 

Of course "civilized discoverers" have a right to name mountains, and 
any name that they bestow should, as a general rule, be retained except 
in one case, and that is when the original name is known. The original 
nam3 has an inalienable right to precedence, especially when It is not a 
jaw-breaking string of unpronouncable syllables, but a euphonious and 
musical word, such as Tacoma certainly is. 

Vancouver was not the first "ci\dlized" person to see Tacoma shining 
like a mighty white thunder cloud above the distant horizon. It was ad- 
mired by Spanish explorers two years before he saw it, and tlieir charts 
aided him in navigating the waters of Puget Sound, which, thanks to this 
same bestower of obscure names on magnificent natural phenomena, is 
called after Peter Puget, an officer on Vancouver's ship. In fact, 
Vancouver fairly bespattered this whole region with the names of his 
friends in England." 

Boston, Mass., March 23, 1893. 
^^Frid G. Plnmmer, Esq., Secy IVashington Alpine CInb, Tacoma^ Wash. 

******* 
I am glad you are making an effort to preserve Tacoma and the sur- 
rounding region as a park, and that the name Tacoma is so well cham- 
pioned, and trust that it will ultimately prevail. 

* * * * * * * 

Very truly yours, 

Hazz,\rd Stevens." 

General Stevens made the ascent of Tacoma in 1870 with James Long- 
mire and P. B. Van Trump. 



Union City, Mason Co., Wash, April 27, 1893. 
' *Hon . James Wicker sham . 

Dear Sir : I ought long ago to have acknowledged the receipt of your 
pamphlet in regard to the name of Taconui, and am very glad that you 
are still agitating that subject. I do not know that I am prejudiced one 
way or the other about it, but think if my sympathies have been either 
side in the general rivalry between Seattle and Tacoma they have been 
with Seattle. That certainly was the case in the early part of the fight 
between the two places, years ago, though there is less of it now. But, 

30 



however that may be, I would like to see the name Taeoma kept on the 
mountain. I think Taconui much the best name. My reasons are much 
the same as those of others — perpetuate the native names when we can, 
when they are not too hard, and this one is one of the easiest of them. I 
have sympathized with Seattle in the general fight, as sometimes I thought 
there w^as reason in it ; but I think Seattle unreasonable in trying to keep 
Rainier, and so my sympathies are on this point the other way. 

Sincerely yours, 

M. Eells." 



The Chicago Mail in its issue of May 4th, 1893, said editorially : "The 
Mail is glad to lend itself to the proposition to establish the Indian name 
of the great mountain near Tacoma, Washington, doing away with the 
name 'Rainier.' given it by Vancouver in 1792. There is no reason why 
Tacoma, Mount Tacoma, sliould not have the preference. The man for 
whom Vancouver got his app^^llative was a British vice-admiral of no con- 
sequence in history, though he fought against us during the Revolution- 
ary war." 

The editor of the Archaologist says in the April number: "It should 
be the desire of all American people to preserve mementoes of our aborig- 
inal race which is fast disappearing. This can be done only in protecting 
not alone from destruction their works left behind, but also jealously 
guarding the names they gave to our mountains, lakes, streams, etc. Why 
should not then this prominent snow-clad peak have an Indian name for- 
ever perpetuated as Mount Tacoma?" 



Henry T. Finck, an author of wide reputation, says in the New York 
Nation: "The name of Tacoma was in use centuries before Vancouver 'dis- 
covered' the mountain. The American people will surely right it ulti- 
mately. Some years ago an attempt was made to impose the name of a 
governor of California on the most picturesque of American lakes. To 
this day packages are sent to 'Lake Bigler;' but to most Californians, and 
to all tourists, that lake is now known, and always will be known, as 
Lake Tahoe. And so, too, will it be with Mount Tacoma. 

University of Pennsylvania, ~] 

Department of Archaeology and Palaeontology, [ 

American ^ECTION. Dr. C. C. Abbott, Curator, f 

Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 18, 1892. J 

M. S. Hill, Esq. 

My Dear Sir: I most heartily sympathize with you in the matter of 
"names." It seems to me bordering upon outrage to abandon the original 
names of mountains, rivers and other striking localities, to which the In- 
dians gave not only beautiful but appropriate names, and foist upon them 
those of modern people who happen to be their "discoverers," or in this 
way endeavor to perpetuate soldiers', politicians' and others' fame, when 
often these people have never even seen the places referred to. 

Very truly yours, 

Chab. C. Abbott. 

31 



The Geographical Society ok the Pacific, ) 
San Francisco, Miireh 4, 1893. \ 

M. S. Hill, Secretary Taccma Academy of Science, Tacoina, ITas/i. 

Dear Sir: I am directed by the Oouncil of the Geographical Society of 
the Pacific to acknowledge receipt of the February transactions of your 
Academy, and your letter of February 25, and to express to you the thanks 
of the Society. The Council considers Judge Wickersham's paper a most 
interesting document showing as it does that the aboriginal name of the 
mountain is in all points of view more appropriate than wouM be any im- 
portation from the Old World. 

1 am, very truly yours, 

T, F. Trenor, Assist. Secy. 



Thic Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences, } 
Minneapolis, March 7, 1893. S 

AferiJen S. Hill, Esq., Secretary TaC'iina Academy of Science. 

Dear Sir: We are in receipt of your very interesting "proceedings," 
for which please accept cordial thanks. It is a matter of mucli interest to 
me. and should be, I think, to all, that the old local names, especially 
those given and used by the primitive inhabitants, should be retained. 
They should indeed be held measurably sacred to the memory of the peo- 
ple who have passed or are passing away. They are usually significant 
and euphonious — more so than "Tom, Dick or Harry," or even "A'aw?Vr. " 
1 hope you will succeed in impressing upon the powers that be the mani- 
fest propriety of affixing the title " Tacoma" to any document referring to 
the mountain officially. Very truly yours, 

W. H. Pratt, Cor. Secy. 



Albany Institute, \ 

Albany, N. Y., March 14, 1893. S 
Dear Sir : 1 am directed by the Albany Institute to express its thanks 
for the ]iamphlct on tiie name of Mount Tacoma. You are right beyond 
all (juestion. The native local nomenclature should 1)e adopted by the 
conquering nation unless a name embraces sounds or combinations of let- 
ters unmanageable by the new-comers. I beg to assure you that the So- 
ciety duly appreciates this mark of consideration. 

I remain, very respectfully yours, 

George Rogers Howell, 

Recording Secretary. 
To M. S. Hill, Secretary Tacoma Academy of Science. 



The Oneida Historical Society,/ 
Utica, N. Y., March 15, 1893. j" 
Mr. M. S. Hill, Recording Secretary, Etc. 

Dear Sir: Your communication was read by me yesterday, at a 
regular meeting of this society, and its contents received consideration. 
It is (piite true that much interest has been manifested by us in the name 
of Mount Tacoma, and we do sincerely hope that this name will be pre- 
served, not only for the mountain, ])ut also for the park. As a tract of 

32 



land surrounding Mount Tacoma has recently been set apart, as a govern- 
ment reserve, for a public park, this subject becomes a matter of national 
interest and importance, and the proceedings of the Academy show very 
conclusively that the name which the mountain now bears was the earliest 
name, which name should certainly be continued. It is to be hoped 
that action by Congress will be taken favorable to this name, at an early 
day, and if any aid can be rendered in this direction do not hesitate to 
call upon us. 

I am, yours faithfully, 

Charles W. Darling, 

Corresponding Secretary. 

S-MrxHsoNiAN Institution, 
United States National Museum, 
Washington, March 18, 1893. 
M. S. Hill, Secretary. 

Dear Sir : I have received your publication in relation to Mount Ta- 
coma, and am entirely in accord with the proposition to restore the original 
and euphonious aboriginal name to the tine peak to which it belongs. I 
believe in retaining the aboriginal names in every case where they are eu- 
phonious and clearly established, rather than inapplicable subsequent 
names which chance and the first explorers happened to use, unless the 
latter have become universally current. 

Yours very truly, 

Wji. H. Dall. 



Kansas State Agricultcral College, \ 
Manhattan, Kas., March 18, 1893. \ 
M. S. Hill, Esq., Secretary Tacoma Academy of Science, Tacoma, Washington. 

Dear Sir : I take pleasure in acknowledging herewith the receipt of 
the proceedings of your Academy for Feb. 6, 1893, and have examined it 
with considerable interest. It always seemed to me highly appropriate to 
preserve aboriginal geographical names wherever possible. I should there- 
fore be much pleased to see Tacoma recognized as the name for your moun- 
tain. Certainly the name Rainier has no such connection Avith our past 
or present history as to give it much claim to our defence. 

Yours respectfully, 

J. T. WiLLARD, 

Pres. Scientific Club, K. S. A. C. 



Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. Q.) 
March 28th, 1893. \ 

M. S. Hill, Secretary Tacoma Academy of Science, Tacoma, Wash. 

Dear Sir : Accept my thanks for the interesting brochure you have 
sent rae concerning the famous mountain. You certainly make out a 
strong case for Tacoma vs. Rainier, and I shall be glad to assist you by all 
means in my power to secure the rightful restoration. 

Very truly yours, 

Elliott Coues. 
33 



Peoria Scikntific Association, } 
Peoria, III.. April 28, 1893. ) 
To the Taconia Academy of Science. 

We, the undersigned, having been appointed by the Peoria Associa- 
tion to convey our interest to the Taconia Academy do tlierefore resolve : 

That we heartily sympathize with the Tacoma Academy in its effort 
to fix the word "Tacoma" as a name for the beautiful mountain. 

That we urge upon our Association its co-operation in trying to secure 
the reserve land adjacent for purposes of a national park. 

That we believe this to be a matter of national interest and worthy of 
the utmost effort on the part of all scientists and public-spirited people. 
[Signed] H. B. Hopkins, 

H. W. Wells, 
Alice Bakniiart, 

Committee. 



Tacoma, Wash., July 1, 1893. 
Hon. fames Wickersham, Tacoma. 

My Dear Sir : In response to the request contained in your favor of 
June 30th, it gives me pleasure to enclose map of Blount Tacoma corrected 
by best information received up to date. For comparison I enclose copy of 
map of Mount Blanc taken from LeOontes Geology. Both maps are to the 
same scale and give an idea of the size of Tacoma. 

Answering your inquiry regarding the name of the mountain, would 
say that this club has endorsed the word "Tacoma," as its spelling is as 
near as any can be to the Indian pronunciation. 

From triangulations made this spring, I am of the opinion that the 
mountain is 15,000 feet high, and not 14,444 as is commonly reported. 
This would make it the highest mountain in the United States. 

Very truly, 

Fred. G. Plummer, 
Secretary Washington Alpine Club. 



Monsignor Satolli, the official representative of the Pope, in closing 
his address at the Tacoma hotel on Sunday, July 2nd, said (by his inter- 
preter): "Again the Monsignor thanks you for this large reception. He 
wishes to say finally that he knows the grand mountain which towers 
over the whole Sound, has for its true name — Tacoma." 



rei'okt of committee on revision. 

June 25, 1893. 
Hon. Frank Allyn, President. 

Your special committee on the printing of the second edition of the 
paper entitled "Is it Mount Tacoma or Rainier?" respectfully submits 
the foregoing. James Wickersham, Chairman. 

Meriden S. Hill. 
Fred G. Plcmmer. 

34 




MAP OP THE GLACIERS OF MOUNT BLAN'C. 




MAP OF THE GLACIERS OF MOL'NT TACOMA. 



LIBRfiRY OF CONGRESS 



017 373 283 1 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



017 373 283 1 



